


Drunk Duets

by immortallongings



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, kind of, musical! sansan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 20:58:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8861833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immortallongings/pseuds/immortallongings
Summary: Sansa is a waitress in a diner, trying to make extra money by singing in public. A drunk Sandor walks by and decides to start singing as well.





	

**Author's Note:**

> It's finals week for me and you know what that means! (avoiding responsibilities with Sansan)
> 
> Anyways, thanks for taking the plunge with me! Just a few notes before beginning, the italic bits are song lyrics. I'll put the song names in the end notes. Also, this fic is based on this super adorable video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oCWAw28uLE

Sansa sighed softly as she finished setting up her small performance space. It was 6pm on a Friday night and she was getting ready to sing on the street in front of a cute café in uptown Maidenpool. She loved singing, but she was getting tired of performing four hours every Friday night only to receive about $40 in tips. It was hard work and it was discouraging to have such a lukewarm reception. Sansa already worked 40 hours a week at a local diner, but she needed an extra bit of money to support herself. If she didn’t start getting earning more with her singing, she might have to move back to Winterfell and face her family, knowing she had failed at living on her own.

 

Sansa shook her head quickly to dispel the negative thoughts. Tonight was going to be different, she knew it. She'd enjoy herself and meet a handsome producer who loved her voice and wanted her to sign a contract and she wouldn't have to worry about how to make ends meet anymore or about moving back in with her parents. Feeling a bit more positive and drunk off her pipe dream, Sansa quickly checked her guitar's tuning. Everything sounded right. She looked down to check that she had weighed down the hat she collected tips in. All good. 

 

Sansa took a deep breath and started her first song. It was a simple song she used as a warmup, but it was beautiful enough that sometimes people left tips. 

 

" _Words aren't meant to be taught. Love's not meant to be lost_ ," Sansa sang, her voice clearly ringing through the night. She caught the eye of Hot Pie, the owner of the café, when he came out to write on the cafe's sign, and gave him a quick smile. She focused her attention on the music and let the music move her. " _Oh Jameson, you've had your fun, stop holding him, I wanna be the one_."

 

" _I promise you I'll treat him right, don't wanna fight, you don't need him like I do._ " A woman walking by smiled at her and dropped some change into the hat. Sansa nodded to her and felt her voice grow stronger as she grew more confident. " _Find someone else to take my place, you want me but treat me like you don't._ " Sansa finished up the song with a soft smile towards her small audience. One person stepped forward to tip her, while the other clapped and waited for the next song. 

 

Sansa took a breath and thought about what to sing next. She settled on a classic and started strumming the chords for 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand'. She shaped her voice to form the notes from the back of her throat and sang sweetly to the remaining person in the audience. When the song finished, he stepped up and dropped a couple of bills into the hat. "You sing very well. Your voice is truly as beautiful as you are," he said to her with a flirty smile. 

 

"Thank you, sir," Sansa said, blushing a little. She quickly started another song though, not wanting to encourage this man. Getting the hint, he gave her a brief smile and walked away. 

 

Sansa sang five more songs in the next half hour; more people than usual stopped to listen and give her tips which encouraged her. Once she felt her throat start to dry, she stopped for a quick break. She checked her watch: 6:45. The sun was just starting to set. The evening rush would start in about 15 minutes, with people passing her as they went to meet friends or lovers for dinner dates. Sansa wished she could be one of them, wished she weren't so alone in this city. 

 

Sansa sharply snapped herself out of her lonely thoughts. There was no use in feeling sorry for herself. If she didn't have anyone to spend time with on a Friday night, she'd at least make other people happy with her music, even if they were just strangers. 

 

After soothing her throat with warm tea, she rechecked the tuning on her guitar and started to sing again. She had decided during her break to sing a lullaby of sorts, feeling the need to sing a calming song to soothe herself. " _This world is gonna burn. Burn, burn, burn. As long as we're going down, baby you should stick around._ " Sansa repeated the intro a few more times than necessary, wanting to draw the song out, wanting to get lost in the lullaby.

 

As she began to sing the first verse, she noticed a pair of large men walking towards her. Or rather, a pair of large men stumbling her way. Why they were already drunk at 7pm she had no idea. 'Oh, I hope they don't stop here,' she thought to herself. The last thing she wanted was to be harassed by some drunk men, especially since she didn't have anyone with her to protect her. She wondered if Hot Pie could see her from inside the kitchen, if he would intervene if they started to bother her. 

 

As the men came even closer, Sansa looked down at her guitar and tried to be as inconspicuous as a street performer could possibly be. " _It's all gonna shift, it's out of our hands. Baby if you could have known, you would hatch a plan._ " The taller of the men perked his head towards her, like a dog would when it heard something interesting; Sansa's breath hitched, knowing he had noticed her. 

 

"Oh no, oh no," thought Sansa. The worst of her fears was realized when the taller man grabbed his friend and started towards her. From the corner of her eye, she could see that the taller man was not just large, he was enormous. He was at least half a foot taller than Sansa and probably twice her weight. He was pure muscle, with tattoos running down his giant arms. His hair was raven black and was parted to cover one side of his face. Sansa thought she saw a weird texture on the covered side of his face, but didn't want to draw even more of his attention by staring openly. 

 

The large man's friend was smaller, more wiry. He carried himself with enormous confidence and made her think of a bootlegger, or perhaps a sell sword from the olden days. He gave her a large grin when he noticed her peeking at him. Sansa quickly looked down again and focused on the music, determined not to let these men disturb her. Unfortunately that was going to be difficult based on how she could literally feel the giant's gaze pressing on her. "Concentrate, Sansa!" She thought. " _That's my, that's my man,_ " she sang. 

 

"Sandor, I'm gonna get some coffee. I need to sober up a little if we're actually gonna hit up the rest of the bars," the smaller one said to his friend. 

 

The giant, presumably Sandor, simply  grunted, not moving his gaze away from Sansa. The small friend smirked, then sauntered into the cafe. 

 

It was just Sansa and the large man now. Sansa kept looking down, as if to check her fingering on the guitar, but really to avoid the man's gaze. He was looking at her so intensely, like he expected her to disappear at any moment. 

 

" _This world is gonna burn. Burn, burn, burn,_ " she sang. She noted curiously that the man seemed to flinch at these lines. " _As long as we're going down, baby you should stick around._ " She repeated the chorus a few more times, watching as the man came closer to her and then plopped down next to her, sitting cross-legged by her side. 'Oh gods, he must be really drunk!' she thought to herself. She finished the song slowly, letting her voice gradually die out. 

 

After a few seconds of silence while Sansa figured out what to sing, the man lifted his head. "You sing like a little bird," he rumbled, his voice like an avalanche. His eyes peered into hers, as if trying to figure something out. 

 

"Thank you?" Sansa replied, unsure of if he had complimented or insulted her. He grunted and went back to his slumped position. Sansa looked quizzically at him, then moved to start her next song. 

 

"Little bird?" the man asked, stopping her right before she could begin strumming. "Yes?" she replied, annoyed. "For your next song don't sing anything about fire."

 

Sansa scoffed at the man. He was wasted, seemingly had no intention of tipping her, and somehow had the nerve to demand that of her. 

 

He heard her disdain and quickly looked up at her, his hair falling away from his face. Sansa stifled a gasp as she saw what he had been trying to hide. One side of his face was covered with burns. It looked like he had received skin grafts to make them look better, but they were still quite pronounced. She steeled herself,  met his eyes briefly, nodded, then turned back to face the sidewalk. 

 

"Let's see..." she muttered to herself, trying to decide on another song. The song she had been planning on singing didn't mention fire again, but it was rather upbeat and she thought it might agitate the drunk. She instead settled on one of her favorite songs. It also resembled a lullaby and Sansa found it very relaxing. If the gods were good, it would bore the man next to her into leaving. Though the song might also cause the man to fall asleep next to her, which would definitely be bad for business!

 

" _Don't you call anybody else, baby. Cause I'm your baby still._ " Sansa slowly got into a rhythm and felt the world drifting away. The music swept over her and pulled her away from her thoughts, her anxieties. " _You speak your fear, thinking in circles and checking what mirrors don't see._ " Sansa felt herself slowly forgetting the drunk man next to her and rushing to get to her favorite part of the song: a long outro that was just the first line repeated over and over again. 

 

" _Don't you call anybody else, baby._ " She felt herself falling again, lost in the music. After the third repetition, Sansa became aware of a change in the music. A soft baritone voice had joined her, singing a soft, gentle harmony to her plaintive melody. " _Don't you call anybody else, baby._ " 

 

Surprised and broken from her trance, she looked at the drunkard. He was leaning back against the streetlight, singing with his eyes closed. A movement in the corner of her eye caused her to glance forward, where a couple had stopped to hear them sing. Their arms were intertwined and they smiled dreamily at the sound of their voices. 

 

Sansa supposed she and the giant did actually sound good together. Apparently people loved it, judging by how another two people had stopped to hear them sing. She decided to make the best of it and turned back to the man, willing him to look at her. After two more repetitions, he opened his eyes and found himself the object of her gaze. "Take the melody?" Sansa asked quietly. The man looked baffled for a second, then quickly nodded and switched over to Sansa's part. Sansa smiled and began to improvise a harmony. The man's voice had grown louder, aware now that she wanted him to join her, and Sansa found that she could finally hear the details of his voice.

 

His voice was like a landfall. It was raspy and reminded her of a large truck driving over a gravel road. And it was so incredibly low. Sansa was sure that if she put her head on his chest she would feel it vibrate. His voice was a sharp contrast to her own, clear and high. She smiled as she realized that she truly did sing like a bird, at least compared to him. 

 

The two were so different and yet the duet seemed to work. Her softness counteracted his roughness. His rasp added flavor to her clarity. She changed her harmony again, wanting to move her voice against his in yet another way. She felt herself searching for something, something she couldn't quite reach. Their voices continued to move together. 

 

After a few more measures, Sansa signaled to the man that they had three more repetitions. " _Don't you call anybody else, baby._ " Her eyes met his. 

 

" _Don't you call anybody else, baby._ " His eyes were a dark grey, not quite the shade of wet cement yet still capable of entrapping her. 

 

" _Don't you call anybody else, baby._ " Sansa broke away from his eyes and played a few more chords to end the song properly. Upon the end of the song, she heard a large amount of applause. Looking up, she saw that the crowd had grown to almost a dozen people. 

 

"That was great," the woman nearest to her said, leaning forward to drop money into Sansa's hat. "Yeah, I got that on video. What a great pair, you'll be YouTube stars in no time!" another person chimed in. 

 

"Thank you," Sansa murmured, unused to so many people. She looked to the drunk. He seemed terribly confused about the whole situation. 

 

"Oy, Sandor! There you are, you ox." The drunk singer's friend rushed up to where Sandor was sitting. "What are you doing, mate?"

 

Sandor looked perplexedly at his friend. "I just sang with an angel, Bronn. I think I'm dying. I think the angels are coming for me," Sandor said in a slightly panicked voice. 

 

"Whoa, whoa," said Bronn. "You're not dying. Trust me. Anyways, it wouldn't be an angel coming to collect you, would it?"

 

Sansa leaned down to Sandor's level. "You sing beautifully," she said, smiling shyly at him. 

 

Sandor looked up. "As do you, little bird." 

 

Bronn gave the two of them a curious look before hauling Sandor off the ground. He made sure Sandor could stand on his own before leaning down to Sansa and handing her a business card he’d snagged from Sandor’s wallet. “Sandor and I work together, in case you ever want to, you know, drop by or something.”

 

“I’d like that,” Sansa said with a smile. “Make sure he gets home safely.”

 

“Your wish is my command, my lady!” Bronn said with a wink. “Come on, mate. It’s time to go home,” he said to Sandor. Sandor just groaned and let Bronn drag him down the street.

 

Sansa watched the two of them disappear around a corner before looking down at the business card Bronn had given her. “Three Hounds Fitness, Sandor Clegane,” she read to herself. “Sandor Clegane,” she repeated, savoring the way his name rolled off her tongue. She wondered what her name would sound like coming off his tongue. Sansa smiled and made a mental note to drop by Sandor’s gym Monday before her shift at the diner.

 

\---

 

BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP!

 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Sandor groaned, slamming a fist down on his alarm clock. He rolled onto his back and let out a loud sigh. He had never quite gotten the hang of Mondays. He sighed again and started to get out of bed; ten hours at the gym, then he could come back home and sleep. Maybe get a drink in somewhere before bed. He groggily slouched towards his bathroom, trying to wake himself up.

 

The weekend had been pretty shitty. He had let Bronn talk him into going out on Friday night and, of course, Bronn had goaded him into drinking way more than he should have. The hangover on Saturday morning would have killed a weaker man. Sandor made a mental note to kick Bronn’s ass when he saw him at work.

 

Even though the hangover was horrible, his alcohol-induced dreams had been surprisingly pleasant, much nicer than his usual flame-filled nightmares. He had dreamed of an angel with shockingly red hair and a voice that would make the gods themselves weep. And oh, how beautiful she had been. Sandor hadn’t wanted the dream to end, but when he found himself lucid again, he was in his bed, not next to the sweet little bird.

 

Thoughts of his dream woman filled his head as he went through his normal routine: shower, breakfast, commute. He pulled into the gym’s parking lot at 8:00, unlocked the doors, and started switching on lights. It would be a long, shitty day. To be honest, all Sandor wanted to do was go back to sleep and try to dream of the little bird again. But, he had work to do and money to make. Sandor took a deep breath and steeled himself for the upcoming drudgery.

 

Two boring hours later, Sandor was ready to call it quits. He just really didn’t want to be at work that day. He had been correcting people’s posture and giving tips to those who asked for them, but it was obvious to everyone in the gym that Sandor wasn’t putting his heart into his work as he usually did.

 

“The fuck’s up with you, Hound?” Bronn quipped, before widening his eyes and staring behind Sandor.

 

“Fuck off, you’re the one who got me drunk on Friday night anyways,” he grumbled as he turned to see what had caught Bronn’s attention.

 

Sandor froze. It was the angel from his dream. She was dressed like a waitress, but it was definitely the girl from his dream.

 

She smiled tentatively at him. “Hi,” she said softly, stepping closer to him.

 

Sandor stared at her before reaching an arm out and poking her on her shoulder.

 

“Um..” she asked, with an adorable quizzical expression. Bronn started cackling behind Sandor.

 

“Little bird,” Sandor breathed. “You’re real.”

 

She laughed sweetly. “I guess you don’t remember much from Friday then.”

 

“I remember enough,” he replied. “How are you here?”

 

“Bronn gave me your business card before he took you home. I just decided to stop by before heading to work. Wanted to see my favorite singer in his natural, sober habitat,” she said, smiling.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I, um.” Sandor started messing nervously with his hair. “It’s good to see you…” he said awkwardly.

 

“I’m Sansa, in case you forgot.”

 

“Right. I’m, um, I’m Sandor…” Sandor wanted to kick himself. He was fucking this up. She was real and even more beautiful than he remembered and he just could not form words.

 

“Would you-“ Sansa paused, blushing. “Would you possibly like to grab dinner tonight? It’s totally fine if you’re too busy, I mean you probably are and I’m imposing and I -“

 

“Little bird, I would love to get dinner,” Sandor said, interrupting Sansa’s rambling.

 

Sansa blushed even more deeply before grinning at Sandor. For once, Sandor grinned back, too off guard to worry about his scars.

 

Sansa reached forward and touched his hand gently. “I’ll see you tonight then. I hope you have a good day.”

 

“Yeah, I will. You too,” he rumbled. As she turned to head to work, Sandor couldn’t help smiling even wider. Today was going to be a great day.

**Author's Note:**

> In order, the songs Sansa sings are:  
> 'Jameson' by Zella Day  
> 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' by T.V. Carpio  
> 'Dark Doo Wop' by MS MR  
> 'Baby' by Warpaint
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
